Hellboy & the Telling of the Corpse
by TaelorTot
Summary: Hellboy goes to the town of Burkina to investigate missing corpses, a confused individual and caves. he has to find the solution before the cops find one... and before an innocent man is put to death. Join us.


**Author's Notes: Ok here we go again. This is another one of those stories I started--stopped--then started up again. Im just shipping it out right from my compter without a beta-reading reviewing. :D  
****This one was actually quite simple and easy to finish because the concept is so simple and whatnot. I got the inspiration from Frankenstein after reading it for a project once. I really like it and it is comic-verse. *smiles*  
Ummm its really short for a story from me._hehe_. If you find any grammatical errors (which i know you will) just email me and i'll come back and fix em. Also, i know a lot of people have said i need to fix paragraphs stuff AND i do on Microsoft word but when i upload it on here it undoes EVERYTHING which is annoying so just know i have been listening to you guys. Also when i do Spell Check on Edit/Preview Document on FanFic, sometimes after i save it jams sentences together which is weird.... ugh.  
****Anything else... um yes. REVIEWS please. I shortened it just for you peoples who get intimidated by stories that have more than 5000 words. Learn to read the distance, k--you'll have to do a shit load of it when your reach collage anyway. _hehe. _Also the title... Couldnt think of a good one. :D maybe thats my problem for reviews. lol. if you got one after reading don't hesitate to tell me. i suck at titles.  
Thanks**

**TaelorTot**

* * *

**The Odd Town of Burkina...**

During the night there were wailing sirens, and in the morning the first media truck drove across the bridge and the man was there to see it. At least that's how it was described by the man who was crossing this bridge—its water brown and mossy with the occasional bottle floating on its surface—with his hat and daily paper blown away by the incredible force of wind. The former mayor's assistant of the former mayor heard these words with his own ears: he was sitting across the table with the man listening attentively, full of concern and curiosity. As the former mayor's assistant of the former mayor, he was spoiled with the newest gossip before it was cast into the street.

The man, speaking fervently held his hands up for silence. "Listen to this. Listen: Here's a man facing death and all he can think about is beer! Beer! With my own ears I heard him as for only beer."  
"Perhaps he was parched?" a third fellow suggested as the barkeep refilled his mug. The beer foam bubbled on his mustache but the man shook his head no, folding his arms. "No. beer? At a time like this—this was not the time to ask for beer! He was deranged!"

"Does he look like a killer?" the former mayor's assistant of the former mayor asked ogling his friend with envy. "A freak?"

"His eyes were bulged—his skin sallow and sullen. It seemed he hadn't seen sunlight in days."  
"Was Berend there?" the third man interrupted, "There at the station? Was he there for questioning?"  
"No the gravedigger was not there." The man answered, "The chief of police has not summoned him, but it will only be a matter of time."  
"And the bodies! Have they found the bodies?" asked the former mayor's assistant of the former mayor. The man coolly leaned back in his seat as the clock above the wall shook from the vibrations of a passing train.  
"Not a one. But he was spotted unearthing the grave of Gisfrid's niece. He made off with the body into a grove." The man recounted.

"And this all happened last night?"  
"Last night while you were slumbering. I awoke early this morning to meet with the chief about plumbing repairs in the cells and saw many trucks entering Burkina at dawn! Newscasters! All the way from Berlin! The man—on channel 8 news, his face was on the side of a van! I was behind the chief during his public announcement—that was me!" the man exclaimed wasting his drink. The former assistant of the former mayor could not hide his bubbling jealousy. The third man stared baffled.  
"Why my friend this is joyous news!"  
"Joyous, eh?"  
"I know—and wait until I tell mother! I was there when they questioned him too. He seemed distorted and puzzled by his situation—like he did not know what he'd done. He only wanted beer."  
The clock above the wall struck noon as the third fellow checked his own wristwatch, "Why, noon already. I must be getting back to the shop."  
"I will stay here." Declared the former assistant of the former mayor, "With our friend so he will not be bothered by the locals to repeat his story."  
"It is no trouble, my friend." Said the man, "This is my day,—who would have thought the shameful plumber of Burkina would be on the television!"

The third man nodded and said goodbye to his friends. The former assistant of the former mayor began to pester him for more details—details he could sell for lofty sum to the gossiping ladies of the higher class. But the man had no more to say and with that the large red brute sitting at the end of the bar quietly paid his tab and exited the pub without being seen.

XXX

Hellboy was in Burkina, Germany. Again. He had visited a number of years ago for a random zombie attack that was a hoax but it sounded like this time he was actually going to solve something.  
Last night a man named Etzel Ehrlichmann was spotted committing a crime, chased through the forest by vicious dogs, and cracked over the head with a truncheon before being dragged off to the nearest jailhouse in Burkina. He had apparently committed a demented crime, body-snatching or what Hellboy knew was worse, necrophilia. The only thing pending on this guy was body-snatching, but what made it worse was the fact that over 50 bodies had gone missing from one graveyard over the last three months.

No one had really reported it just to keep Burkina's reputation 'clean' but now that they had a suspect, they had a story. The only thing was the fact that all 50 bodies were still missing. Not a trace of bone or clothing had been found, yet, and the only reason Hellboy thought it was paranormal-related was the fact that Etzel seemed not to have a clue what the interrogator was talking about when he was asked the question, "What were you doing with that corpse?"

His first order of action was to find out everything about this Etzel guy but he doubted the German police would want him to have anything to do with this case being solved. So, with a few tips from numerous pubs, restaurants and coffee shops, within less than four hours Hellboy knew only three things: 1. Etzel was a mentally-challenged man who cleaned windows for a Euro coin. 2. He liked to collect keys. 3. His sister, Sophie, lived in the Meta Quarter of town.

XXX

Sophie Ehrlichmann was a bony red haired woman with a rather horsey-face and round eyes. She was wearing her usual apron over a frumpy flowery dress as she washed dishes in her sink looking out the window at the town square.  
She had not hesitated to let Hellboy into her home when he came to the door; in fact she was furtively happy to see him. After offering him a bite to eat and some Polish beer she poured her heart out to Hellboy after one simple question.  
"Etzel is my only sibling—he is younger than me. He hasn't been right in the head since he nearly drowned in the nearby river when he was eight—always talking to himself and counting invisible numbers in the air—I knew he'd never live a normal life after that. Mama purposely ignored my brother's mental illness and he's worsened over the last couple of years—in fact, I don't even believe that is my brother. But mama kept ignoring it… like it was never there."  
Sophie hung her head a little, clanking dishes in the sink to have some noise in the hushed cottage.  
"Does Etzel live here with you?"  
"No, it's just me and mama now." Sophie said glancing over her shoulder at the corridor leading to the back of the cottage. Soft music could be heard coming from a back room and Sophie sighed deeply, "Mama's old now—she doesn't even acknowledge she has a son. I haven't bought her to the front of the house to watch the television because Etzel's been on every channel. It'll break her heart into two."

"Well ma'am I came to Burkina to help your brother." Hellboy announced, "And I need to know every thing about his character." Sophie dried off her last dish before joining Hellboy at the table.  
"As you know, gossip travels fast in Burkina. I assume that's how you found me today. I can tell you now that my brother would not be digging up dead bodies just for the fun of it nor for something as sick as—" Sophie rolled her eyes in a disgusted way, "Someone had to trick him into doing it."  
"Motive."  
"Money means little to him. He doesn't know the value. Whenever the villagers _feel_ like paying him, he sticks the Euro coins in our mailbox. He likes things like… shoes, pens… keys. Someone must've bribed him with something for my brother to dig up—corpses."  
Sophie's expression was one of repugnance as she tried sipping her own beer but it had lost its taste, "The last time I talked to Etzel was four months ago. Some thugs behind a pub beat him up because he could not spell his name. I took him in to nurture his wounds but he could not stay."  
"Why?"  
"Mama did not want him to. Mama… she is difficult."  
"So basically your brother's just a bum."  
Sophie sighed. "Yes."  
"Hmm, I don't think if I had a sibling who was mentally-disabled and illiterate I'd let them live out on the streets when I apparently have room in my home." Hellboy commented.  
Sophie's nails tapped on her beer bottle guiltily, "I tried to put him in a home for the disabled but—but he wouldn't go—and he steals things—he trades them to the pawnbroker for rubbish like… keys."

Hellboy snorted, "Well lady I don't know your situation with your brother, but I do believe he was deceived—or tricked into grave robbing. He claims to have no memory of the event that occurred last night or anything to do with the other 50 missing bodies. If they prove your brother did do something with 50 other bodies he's going to jail—for a long time—even looking at the death sentence. I need to know everything—from start to finish about what he does, where he's gone and who else I can talk too."

Sophie's face dropped. She closed her mouth with her hand before saying, "Go talk to Berend the Gravedigger. Etzel used to spend hours at his home doing petty chores for him. I have nothing more to say."  
Hellboy stood up to let himself out. As he was about to open the door the doorbell rang and a male's voice called out, "Sophie! It is me, Meinard—I came to comfort you in your time of woe."  
Hellboy grunted turning to look at Sophie. She threw her hands up hunching her shoulders, "It is just Meinard. He is worse than the media."  
XXXX  
Hellboy took the backdoor out of the cottage to avoid people. He'd just left in time because ten minutes later the newscaster trucks were heading down the road towards Sophie's house. Their next target would be the gravedigger, if the police had not beaten them to the punch.

The cathedral was sitting on a hill and behind the hill was a valley where all of Burkina's dead rested. 100 feet away sat the hut of Berend the Gravedigger. Hellboy knocked gently because the door looked like it would collapse any minute. He heard the sound of feet then the wispy voice of Berend. "I don't want any interviews—you do not have a warrant."  
Hellboy rolled his eyes and then saw the balding head of Berend peeking through his curtains with narrowed eyes.  
"Hi." Hellboy said waving. Berend let out a scream, "It's the devil! Come to take me!"  
Hellboy again rolled his eyes, "Hey! I'm not the devil! Let me in!"  
"Go away you accursed demon! By the power of Jehovah, you must leave these premises!"

Hellboy was getting agitated and knocked down the door. It fell with a dull sound and Berend ran for his gun but Hellboy had already grabbed him by his hood. The old man squealed as Hellboy held him up frowning, "Shut up."  
Berend stopped without blinking as Hellboy growled sitting him on the floor. Hellboy picked up his door and put it back on the rusted hinges before peeking out the window to see if Berend had brought attention to himself.  
"Alright old guy listen," Hellboy said drawing the curtains. "I got a few questions about Etzel and you're going to answer em'? Ok?"  
Berend flinched as Hellboy let him down slowly. The old man stared at him shortly before scampering for his gun in the corner of the room. Hellboy was too quick for him and stopped him half-way before picking him up again, insensitively.

"HEY!" Hellboy shouted, "Listen!"  
"Do not hurt me great demon! I meant no harm!" cried Berend.  
"Then why are you trying to shoot me?" Hellboy asked as Berend flinched. Hellboy took a deep breathe to suppress his irritation and sat the old man down on his love seat.

"Now, Berend, you're going to tell me everything about Etzel." Hellboy said, "Starting with your relationship."  
"Etzel was my help during funerals! He would help me dig plots!" Berend replied.

"And?"  
"He was a mentally-impaired lad with many issues, I—I felt sorry for him, you see, so I let him dig the plots, give him some of my pay and talk to him—but I didn't know he was unearthing the those corpses at night! I am innocent!" Berend exclaimed.

"How do you know he was unearthing _corpses_?"

"50 bodies are missing. 50 exact! The church knew someone had been doing it since it started but kept it hush, hush. They suspected me! I'm too old to hardly dig a plot without running out of breathe—but the Father still denied me my priesthood until it was solved. I had no idea it was Etzel—I didn't even consider the _thought_because of his state of mind but… but I saw him! I saw him last night! I was awoken by a loud grunting sound coming from the graveyard and I saw a lantern! I called the police and they bought him back to me and it was Etzel!"  
"So you have no clue why he'd be digging up dead bodies—if he did it?"  
Berend gave Hellboy a strange look, "Well of course he did it! 50 bodies go missing and he's caught digging one up? As soon as they find those remains its Etzel in the chair! I'm sorry to say that—poor Sophie, she must be worried sick—but he is the only suspect!"  
"Those are only allegations! They can't put him in jail for that."  
"But even if Sophie and Miriam come up with the money to post bail he will never be able to live in Burkina without persecution—unless you prove it wasn't him, Devil."

"I'm not the Devil, Berend." Hellboy said digging in his pocket. Hellboy handed him his retired B.P.R.D badge, "This case involves paranormal phenomenon and it seems your friend Etzel was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm going to prove his innocence."  
Berend gave Hellboy a pitied look, "Please red demon—spare this old man frivolous hope. Etzel is a dead man."  
Hellboy didn't want to disagree with Berend because there would be no point in arguing with him.  
"Do you know anything else about Etzel like—where he slept at night?"  
"Sometimes the priests in the church would allow him to rest on the church's step but I have often seen him wandering in the woods behind my home. There are a lot of caves back there. I tell him not to go in there—there are wolves and other danger but he has spent many hours wandering around. He could always find his way back here—he was smart, sometimes."

XXX

Hellboy took precaution before wandering into the woods behind Berend's home. It was already six in the evening and the sun was starting to set. Hellboy stayed with Berend questioning him a little longer before he to got a surprised visit from Meinard, who Hellboy learned was the nosy former assistant of the former mayor. Berend scared him off with his gun and Hellboy took the time to leave quietly.

The woods were thick with trees that touched the sky and the forest floor was a mess of pines, leaves, and dirt. He had started to walk uphill right before the sun was completely down and then stopped to find his flashlight and hand radio. The Sony FM radio had had about enough of Hellboy's adventures plastered on the front with bruises, a bent antenna, and cracked speaker. Hellboy shook it around before cutting it on and turning the delicate dial back and forth until he picked up a radio signal.  
"And on the evening news—static—the fate of Etzel Ehrlichmann—Static—being decided today by judge—prosecution defiantly seeking the death penalty which many think—static—harsh. In other news—static—a young boy and girl have been kidnapped from—static— yard— nanny says suspect was a monstrosity—static—police have no suspects—indeed odd things happen in Burkina."  
It then went dead and he jammed it in his coat pocket. This was not good at all. Kidnapped children, body-snatching… an unsavory scent in the air.  
"What the hell IS _that_?" Hellboy thought as he inhaled deeply. A foul smell of burning flesh plugged his nostrils and Hellboy covered his nose looking up at the sky. From the treetops he could see smoke coming from the east. Someone was burning flesh and that person had to be his guy. Hellboy covered his nose and followed the smoke trail until he found a small wooden cottage in the forest clearing. The windows were glowing from eerie candlelight and the front door had an anomalous symbol carved into it. A symbol of witchcraft. Hellboy felt his thigh for his gun and then his waist for his blessed items. He approached the cottage slowly until he was at the door then thought it be rude of him just to burst in and start shooting even though the smell of burning flesh was coming from its chimney; so he knocked.

Hellboy put his ear up to the door and knocked again. He heard the gritting sound of heavy metal being pushed across a wooden floor then feet. The door creaked open and an old woman with a shrill voice answered, "Yes, may I help you?"  
"I'm here to investigate the smoke from your chimney lady. It smells funny."

The old woman blinked her baggy grey eyes and politely opened the door wide for Hellboy to come in. The cottage had a fireplace where a large black cauldron was simmering over a large fire, a bed in the corner and a kitchenette area where many rusted tools were piled in the sink under dirty brown water. The putrid smell seemed to disappear when Hellboy stepped into the house.

"Please have a seat." The old woman said offering Hellboy the wooden table and chair in the corner to relax, "You are my guest."  
"I'd rather stand ma'am." Said Hellboy sniffing the air for any hint of the foul odor from outside.  
The old woman walked very slowly over to her cauldron and sat next to the fireplace in her rocking chair waiting. Hellboy scanned the room and saw a pair of blue shoes and a cap that obviously belonged to a child. He also noticed a large lock on the door that led to the back of the cottage. Hellboy watched the old woman who didn't seem shocked by his appearance at all so he finally said it, "Sooooo are you going to tell me what you did with those children or are we going to sip tea and eat biscuits?"  
The old woman paused to look up at Hellboy somewhat unnerved.

"I would offer you some of this stew great demon but my son… he gets so hungry."  
"What son?" Hellboy asked looking at the cap and shoes.  
"My son. He must be fed daily but my errand boy has left. I must feed my son." Said the old woman standing up, she lifted the cauldron's heavy top to reveal a bubbly boiling mess of vegetables, spices and human flesh. Hellboy knew it was human flesh and needed not another clue to pull out his gun and aim it at the old woman's head. Hearing him cock the gun she turned around with abnormal swiftness bearing horrible teeth and scary eyes as she charged at Hellboy, "You will not hurt my son!"  
"Kiss your son goodbye lady." Hellboy said unloading on the old woman. She screamed as the bullets pierced her body scrapping the cauldron behind her but now her witch form was visible as she dived for Hellboy's gun. He dropped it and with his right hand he held a blessed crucifix and smacked the old witch into the wall. There she lay unconscious or hopefully dead. It became very quiet; the only sound was the water boiling over the cauldron's rim into the fire. Did Hellboy dare peek into the concoction? He did.

All he saw was a small arm floating on top of the vegetables and he lost all savor for ever eating carrots again. He then went over to the locked door and broke it with his right hand. He opened it to reveal a room. It had no furniture but straw and animal remains were scattered on the floor.  
There was no son here. He quickly searched the room for any sign of the second child and found a pink ribbon lying in the corner of the room.  
_"There are a lot of caves back there"_he remembered Berend saying and that was his last to next clue. Even if he could not save Etzel but he could bring back one of the children he would be able to sleep at night. He had to move fast. And very fast. He thought he heard the propellers of a helicopter.

XXX

By the time he found any caves it was already two A.M. and it seemed the local police were closing in. it would be hard to explain to German cops that it was a flesh-eating hermit somewhere in the forest that had one of the missing children and the other child had been cooked in the house of a dead old woman and that Etzel was innocent.

That sounded bad.  
Approaching one of the caves Hellboy heard a low mumbling sound. He grinned to himself pulling the Good Samaritan out of its holster, "Come out come out where ever you are Paco…"

He turned on his flashlight and kept it low to the ground. Quietly Hellboy crept around rocky corners as the mumbled sound grew into a grinding echo. Hellboy couldn't make out what it was but it didn't take long to realize that he would not be saving any children tonight.

He shined his flashlight towards the back of the cave and saw what a horror the flesh-eating hermit really was. The creatures long gangly legs were the first thing Hellboy saw resting on the cave floor as he shined the flashlight up to its torso and face which looked like someone had went town on with a metal bat. Its skin was grey and decaying with depigmentation, the wrist and ankles were rotting away as greasy black hair on its head grew past its shoulders shrouding its misty transparent eyes. In its mouth was the leg of the kidnapped girl, her poor foot dangling in the rhythm of the monstrosity's jaws. In its lap were her shoes, blood, and doll.  
Hellboy was beyond disgusted seeing a pile of bones behind the thing—the bones of the missing corpses.

"So it's you who's been eating everybody?" Hellboy asked building up anger. The thing cocked its head to the side, apparently blind but not deaf.  
"Mama." It managed to say unintelligently pushing its self up so it could stand. Hellboy backed up and checked his aim. He had no choice now. This thing apparently was the creation of a sick human being—that witch. It had to be fed flesh—human flesh and it would not stop until it was either killed by him or the cops.

"Let's get this over with quickly." Hellboy told himself aiming between the monster's eyes. It still stood waiting for its mother's response as Hellboy closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

With the alarming sound of a gunshot followed by the bullet's impact and the creature falling with a loud thud; Hellboy waited a minute before opening his eyes. The smoke from his gun was just cooling off as he looked down of the ground to see a trail of blood pouring from the monster's face.

It was once human.

Hellboy's stomach churned and he had to walk away before he vomited or worse. Cried. He did not sleep well after that.

**Epilogue**

Sophie Ehrlichmann sat before Hellboy at four in the morning with tears in her eyes. As he sipped his fourth beer, sitting on her couch she squeezed the written sheet of paper he had given her blissfully, "Thank you." She managed to say between happy sobs, "Thank you."

Hellboy glanced at her for only a second before standing up.  
"My associates can get your brother out of jail with the evidence I found but it can never be explained to the townsfolk what happened. They will never understand."  
"Thank you…"  
"I suggest you move away from Burkina as soon as possible Miss Ehrlichmann. This is no place for Etzel or your mother. I heard there is a remote village that has a tranquil psychological estate for people like your brother near Munich. It be best if he goes there."  
"Thank you…" Sophie said again as Hellboy walked towards the door. He peeked out to see the early birds of the newscaster industry riding quietly over the bridge that entered Burkina. And on that bridge stood Meinard, awaiting his chance.


End file.
